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Indian Women In The Music Industry

Today we hear a lot of women pushing past hurdles and rising into their respective fields like the girl boss they are meant to be. Be it Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in pharma or Mithali Raj in cricket, PV Sindhu in badminton, women have been bowling the world over with their leadership skills and firm determination.

They have been constantly proving why they are called superior.

In the music industry, we have many such artists, DJ’s and music producers who are continuously inspiring girls and women to reach new heights. Some days ago, we posted a blog on the top 10 female DJ’s making India proud. On that list feature prominent names like Ma Faiza, DJ Pearl, DJ Angel. Though all these women are wonderful and talented, for me DJ Pearl stands out in terms of being one of the most successful people around. A wise person once told me to succeed you need to be versatile. Truer words have never been said. DJ Pearl today is also known as a co-founder of submerge, India’s leading dance music portal (booking agency, artist management company, and concert promoter). Additionally, she is still the only Indian DJ to play at the Ministry of Sound in London, and the celebrated Pacha in Ibiza. She was the one who introduced house music in India.

Another artist DJ Kinni who started off as a resident DJ in Hyderabad to opening for Sunburn, she has done it all. Today she owns electronic label District Fifty which is a major feat by any artist. In Bollywood Jaddanbai Hussain, was the first female music director for the movie Talashe Haq(she was the director too). Usha Khanna is not only the third female music director to enter the Indian film industry, but is also one of the most commercially successful music directors. Smita Singh ( Agent ) of Anushka & Agent is the co-founder of Magnetic Fields Festival – a 3 day festival of music, art, food and magical connections in a 17th-century palace in Shekhawati, Rajasthan.

Girls in the music industry are stepping forward to break stereotypes and leave their mark in the music industry. You will see girls involved in all stages of music, right from composing to sound engineering. A major reason behind this is the opportunities available are increasing and so girls want to make a career in music. With feminism coming into the picture, you have equal rights pay and gender equality too so women are not afraid to try their hand in the technical aspects of music too. Additionally, parents of these girls are more understanding of their daughter’s goals and so are willing to extend their support both emotionally and financially as compared to the previous generation’s counterparts.

Statistically speaking, only 12% of all artists booked in India’s five top music festivals 2014 (Enchanted Valley Carnival, Magnetic Fields, NH7 Weekender, Sunburn and VH1 Supersonic) were females. And women consist of less than 2% representation booking agencies like Krunk, Regenerate, Soupherb, Only Much Louder, UnMute and Vital Agency. Although the figures seem small, with proper exposure and right opportunities, the future of women in the music Industry looks bright.

At Global DJ Academy, we always encourage girls and women to become the best versions of themselves. We have a lot of women taking admissions in our academy for courses in DJing, Electronic music production, audio engineering and we are proud to see them absorbed very well into the music industry. You can check out our Instagram page or our Youtube channel as we always post stories on our students’ achievement.